Please Read and Review. And thanks to all the people who have taken the time to let me know what you think about the story. I really appreciate it.
TITLE NOTE: After borrowing from book, movie, and song titles for 30 chapters to come up with titles, it struck me that I missed an obvious source – fanfiction titles! So I immediately searched my mind for people that I knew well enough to ask to borrow their titles, who also had titles that made really bad puns. "Third Grade Logic" is a lovely story by samurai-ashes, (if you've read the story the pun is pretty obvious) although I can't mention ashes' name without recommending "Le Coeur a ses Raisons," or "Amor Vincit Omnia." Ah hell, just read anything by ashes – you can't go wrong. So thanks for the loan.
CHAPTER 31: THIRD GRADE LOGIC
YAMI'S POV
Seto and Kaiba were maintaining an uneasy distance. They were both rarely in the same place at the same time. They no longer sparred together in the evenings. Maybe they were afraid of killing each other. According to Kaiba, Seto was spending most of his time at Kaiba Land, working on his game – or more probably playing it over and over, trying to find an ending more to his liking. At night, he would head over to the corporate offices, where the retina scan would let him into Kaiba's office.
"Aren't you worried he'll hack into your system?" I asked. Considering the way Kaiba and Mokuba still routinely trashed Pegasus's Industrial Illusions network, as far as I could tell, for spite or amusement, I was surprised that he allowed Seto such easy access to his office.
"No. He hasn't touched the computer. And he doesn't have my skills – not yet at any rate. Besides… that's not why he's there."
"Why then?"
"He probably just likes standing at the window and imagining Gozaburo smashing to the sidewalk below. I do that myself – whenever I have a lot on my mind. It's relaxing."
"There's one thing that surprises me," I confessed. "You're tracking Seto's movements, but you haven't restricted them."
Kaiba continued staring out the window, looking at the mansion's grounds. He gave no sign that he had heard me.
"Forbearance has never been your strong suit," I reminded him.
I smiled at his continued silence. Kaiba was deaf to implied questions… and not much better with direct ones. But his actions, or rather his lack of action, had aroused my curiosity.
"Why are you giving him so much leeway?" I asked.
"Are you coming around to my way of thinking?" Kaiba asked. "If you prefer, I can keep him confined and sedated until this is over."
"As usual, you've mistaken my meaning." I answered. "I was expressing surprise at his continued freedom, not dismay."
"I can stop him before he does any real damage."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"How's this for an answer, then… I think Seto's a worthless little viper. You insist there's some value in him. Do you realize it's our oldest debate?" he snarled, suddenly angry. "It's time to settle it once and for all. You want to know why I'm giving Seto the rope he needs to hang himself? I'm waiting for Seto to force you to admit that your faith in him was foolish… that your dreams are nothing but illusions. I'm waiting to finally win this argument."
"Stop it, Kaiba! You are too intelligent to desire such a pyrrhic victory," I chided. "For once, you are being less than honest with yourself. I think you are waiting, as you have always waited, for me to prove your fears unfounded, for me to prove you can safely trust to your hopes instead. Tell me… whose view of yourself do you truly wish Seto to validate… yours or mine? For myself, I am content to wait. I trust Seto Kaiba unreservedly."
"Now who's gloating before the match is over?" Kaiba asked with a snort; leaving the room quickly enough to retain the last word.
Seto's appearance at the manor was usually Kaiba's cue to disappear. Kaiba was clearly torn between his guilt and his rage. But I found it impossible to be angry at Seto. The potential for betrayal was there. I could see that as clearly as Kaiba. But I continued to believe in him; to care for him. In his rashness and his defiant courage I could see the man he would grow into. I had played a part in tempering Kaiba, in breaking him. It had been necessary for his sake as well as our own; he could not have continued as he was. But if I felt no guilt, I did feel sorrow over my role. And so I found Seto's unbroken brashness; his almost innocent arrogance; his complete and utter conviction of his own invincibility… poignant. It would be gone so soon.
And although neither version would admit it, Seto was a child. He was being offered a parent's affection for the first time in his life. When I had faced Rafael, I had been caught by my own longings – my need to protect; my desire to win. Yugi insisted that I could not have resisted Rafael's lure. How then could I blame Seto for being tempted by Akunadin's?
Seto was on the couch in the game room, flipping through his cards. He paused at the hand drawn one. "I bet you think they're more than just pieces of paper," he said challengingly.
I nodded.
"It's stupid to hope that they're big enough to store a heart. Even a dragon can't do that."
"Do you want me to tell you that you're wrong, or would you rather wait and learn it for yourself?" I asked.
He ignored me; moved past Mokuba's dragon, to hold his Mystic Horseman and his Battle Ox side by side. I could see him combining them in his mind, recreating his Rabid Horseman.
"It's hard to believe that all these monsters were brought into being by just one man… by Pegasus J. Crawford," he said dreamily. "I'm glad I'm going to get to meet him."
I stared at Seto. I had never heard a note of respect in his voice before.
"How do you know that you're going to meet Pegasus?" I asked. "Did Kaiba tell you anything about him?"
"Why would I bother asking Kaiba something I know anyway? It's common sense. I designed a holographic system based on his game. Of course we're going to meet. I'm just sorry I have to wait. I tried to find him, but his web site said that he disappeared." Seto shrugged, as if people vanishing was an everyday occurrence.
"His web site said that you won his Duelist's Kingdom Tournament," he added resentfully. "You're lucky I wasn't one of the competitors. I have three Blue Eyes White Dragons. You could never have beaten them."
He shrugged again, as if glad to have that settled, and returned to his earlier train of thought. "I guess it doesn't matter that I couldn't find him. It's enough to know I'm going to meet him. It's enough to know we're going to work together. I can't wait to blow Pegasus's mind when he sees what I can do. When he sees how I can take his visions and make them come to life. When he sees that my holograms are so real you can almost touch them… can almost put your arms around them. I bet he freaks out."
All I could do was nod once more. Every word Seto had said was accurate, but so much was missing. I was relieved that he didn't seem to expect more of a response. We sat in a companionable silence until I noticed that he was starting to fall asleep, only to jerk himself awake every time his head nodded too deeply. As with Kaiba, the concept of bedtime seemed alien to Seto.
"Come on, it's time to get you upstairs," I said as I picked him up. I wanted him in my arms. He was going to be hurt so badly by the man he admired; suddenly I remembered that even I had almost killed him.
I liked carrying Seto. After all, it's not like the older version would let me. But I should have remembered that Kaiba, any Kaiba, was unpredictable. As I lifted him up, he put his arms around me and kissed me. On the lips… his tongue sliding between mine, seeking entrance.
God, he was good. His tongue was like liquid fire, burning itself into my heart. Did I say he was a child? He might have been only thirteen, but there was no version of Seto Kaiba that I would not desire. I started to respond. My mouth opened beneath his; my hand stole under his shirt. I felt Seto's hand reached up to grab my hair, to hold me in place. And in that familiar, possessive gesture, I found the sanity to end the embrace; to finish carrying him to bed. He grinned at me, as if he had won a round.
"What's your problem? You're my lover, aren't you?"
But it was not just the child whose heart I had shattered that I loved, but the man who had returned. If there was no version of Seto Kaiba that I would not desire, there was only one version that I truly belonged with. So I had only one answer to give him.
"Not for another five years."
I put him in the wide bed he shared with Kouma, but I couldn't just leave him lying there, looking so alone, even though Kouma was beside him. I folded him into my arms. He must have been tired, or worn down, because he let me hold him, let me rain feather light kisses on his hair. He sighed and moved into my arms, snuggled close, as Kaiba never permitted himself to do when awake. I whispered endearments in his ear until his eyes drifted shut and I could feel him relax into sleep.
Seto was all instinct and inexperience. His precarious innocence aroused my desire to protect… and to possess. But for all his steely determination, for all his bravado – he was only thirteen. He didn't really want to have sex, he just didn't know another way to ask for affection – unless he was proposing an exchange. And I wondered how much of him was left in Kaiba, who held me so tightly only when we made love… or when he slept.
Unless we were in his lair, I had been careful to offer Kaiba only the most fleeting caresses, as though he was a wild animal I was trying to lure close enough to tame… only to find that I was the one who had been ensnared.
But for all that Kaiba could be a feral creature, he was still a man, and had been a boy. This boy.
Everyone knew that Mokuba was the keystone of Kaiba's heart. But Seto was its foundation, and it would be within Seto, that Kaiba's battles were fought.
I had seen Kaiba, all icy confidence, making his deals. I had seen him, a modern day samurai, resolutely offering his life for his brother's. I had even seen him, like the spoiled brat he could be at times, throwing tantrums on the dueling field. I had met his ghosts in Noa's World. I had heard him speak of his anger, hatred, and despair at Alcatraz. But it had taken holding Seto in my arms to truly understand… except when he was with Mokuba, had Kaiba ever experienced any softer emotions? Was his resistance partly a matter of ignorance… and was tenderness a language he desired to learn?
His voice woke me as I lay dozing, Seto still in my arms.
"Should I be jealous?" Kaiba asked, amusement lacing his voice.
I disengaged my arms gently, wrapping Seto's around Kouma. He started to wake. Both Kaibas slept like cats. Then he held Kouma and relaxed back into sleep. I stood up to face Kaiba, my Kaiba.
"No, not jealous. Possibly grateful."
"For what?"
"I think I discovered something tonight," I said, as I reached up to embrace him, to stroke his back. Even after everything that had happened between us, Kaiba had never once asked for more than what I had offered the first night: the pleasure and release that sex offered. But that didn't mean he didn't want more.
This time I did not stop with a fleeting touch. I hugged him, held him close. He stiffened in surprise, as I expected.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"In case you don't recognize it, it's called a hug."
"Why are you bothering?" he asked curiously. "You know we're going to fuck when we get back to our room anyway."
I pretended I didn't notice his slip – when had he started to think of it as our room?
"Did it ever occur to you, I might simply want to express affection, without looking for payback?" I asked.
He grunted.
But I noticed he had leaned further into my embrace. I led him next door. Held him in our bed, kissed his hair lightly, as I had Seto's, whispered the same endearments. I reached out not to my rival, nor even my lover… but to the boy who dwelt within Kaiba's thin frame. The boy who, like a prisoner on a hunger strike, had starved himself of all affection, until even the memory of those feelings was gone almost beyond recall... until his vocabulary had been stripped of words of tenderness. At first, I was careful to do nothing overtly sexual.
The result was electric.
I had been afraid to speak of love. Even now, I avoided the word. But Kaiba's response left no doubt – he was desperate to hear that he was precious to me; that I wanted him, not just in my arms, but in my heart.
How many times had I watched Kaiba ruthlessly using any advantage his opponent granted him? My rival had taught me well. In this bittersweet duel that had begun with a kiss, Kaiba's desire had been my strongest ally. I had become accustomed to using my body as the tie to bind Kaiba to me, until he was ready to accept other, even sweeter bonds. It was exciting to see him now responding just as surely to my words… to my feelings.
I had shattered his heart once, but all I had ever wanted was to make it whole, to keep it safe. But first, he had to learn to give it to my keeping, as I had already surrendered mine to his.
There was a faint confusion in his eyes, as he realized I was asking for a surrender beyond the familiar one… was asking for something he could not quite understand, but was eager to grant.
It was as if I had suddenly given him the missing piece of his heart's puzzle – a piece he hadn't even realized was gone until its return. He was the great, unflappable Seto Kaiba… and he was dissolving beneath my touch... when I finally touched him.
I looked at the bite on his neck, remembering how he fingered the pattern of my teeth when he thought himself unobserved. He caught the direction of my gaze and his breathing quickened. I wondered if he wanted a reminder that he was mine, as badly as I needed to mark him. My mouth descended to the soft flesh of his neck, biting and sucking, before moving up to his ear lobe, before whispering once again, the same endearments I had given Seto, into its shell.
I accepted that he could only answer my words with his actions… that, as he so often did, he would let his body speak for him. And so, I loved hearing the sounds that only I could draw from his throat, seeing the movements that only I could coax from his body. I loved hearing him moan beneath me, as my mouth took his, as he breathed his desire into my lungs, as I whispered that he was safe in return.
I loved seeing him writhing uncontrollably now, as my hands trickled down his chest, played with his small nipples, traced lazy circles across his body, between his legs. My mouth joined my hands, teasing and satisfying; creating that pleasurable, unbearable tension that he would reveal only to me, allow only me to sate.
I reminded him, in the language he understood best, that I loved him, that even as I was driving him to the brink, emptying his mind of everything but a fierce longing… I would never fail to bring him home. That even as he was falling, I would be there with him, joining his solitary flight.
He was lying beneath me now, with that combination of pliancy and steel that was so uniquely his; that yielding which seemed so alien, and yet, in its intensity, so familiar.
I had been in this position before, of course… looking down at him… the tips of my hair my hair brushing his face in that instant before I kissed him… before I claimed him. And yet this was different. For the first time, Kaiba understood that this was not an exchange, but a union. For the first time, Kaiba understood that I was asking, not just for his body, but for the heart that beat indomitably within its frame.
I looked at him, suddenly feeling like the next move would be an irrevocable one. (How many times would Kaiba do this to me – make me feel like we were newly discovering each other, make me feel like we were making love for the first time?) Kaiba met my eyes, matched me stare for stare… his own eyes dark and unreadable.
"Yami," he answered, as if that said everything. And maybe it did. He reached up, pulled me to him and kissed me with his usual ferocity, claiming my mouth, leaving my lips swollen before his. One hand, as Seto's had been, was knotted in my hair. His other arm was across my body, suffocating tight, constraining my movements. I relaxed in his hold, submitting to the strength in his wiry muscles.
Abruptly, the tension left his frame. He leaned back, softly opened his mouth beneath mine; wrapped his legs around mine... and waited.
I loved knowing that I was the one that he wanted, and even more precious, the one that he trusted. No words were evident in the cries he released as I started to move. None were needed. I understood what he was offering… and so did he.
It was more than just the act of possessing him. It was more than feeling him melt into me; feeling myself deep inside of him. It was that he allowed this intimate taking, craved it, enjoyed it. That told me more than all the words he could not say.
And I enjoyed holding him afterwards, while he relaxed into my embrace; accepting it even though we had finished making love; even though we were both still awake.
KAIBA'S POVThe next morning, I was awake first, of course. But I stayed in bed, content to stare at Yami's sleeping face. How had he known that I wanted to be kissed? That I wanted to be held? All I had ever asked for was sex. Why had he given me more?
I could say he was naïve for caring, just as I said that Mokuba was a child. Neither was quite true. Against all odds I had given Mokuba a childhood, of sorts – but it was coming to its natural end. He was aware of much more than I wanted, and had been mature enough to hide his knowledge.
As for Yami – he had shattered my heart. I had accepted his judgment then, why was I so hesitant to accept his absolution now?
So much about Yami ran counter to what I knew of myself, to what I knew of the world. So much about Yami flew in the face of the lessons I had learned so well. And yet I should have been glad to let go of the lessons I clung to so tenaciously. After all, I had spent years trying to smash my past – as if I could come into my future only by destroying the person standing on its threshold. It's ironic that the rival who had shattered my heart was the only one, of the two of us, to find value in its shards.
For that was Yami's true challenge; the one I was still struggling to fulfill: to accept not just my past, but the man who had emerged from its flames.
Mokuba would tell me that we were safe now – that I had won. But he didn't understand. The last time I had relaxed my guard (after all, if being in a coma isn't relaxing your guard, I don't know what is) someone had snatched him. And even if he was right, even if we were safe, the truth was – I didn't know any other way to be.
Yami was asking me to be part of him. And yet… what has ever been worthwhile about me, except for my ability to stand alone? He was asking me to give up my isolation; he was offering shelter. But I didn't know how to be anything other than the lightning rod that had protected Mokuba from the storms that had raged around us. And a lightning rod can not be covered. It must face the elements… draw their anger. So how could I accept?
But Yami knew that as well as I. And even when he was spitting mad at me, even when he was snarling 'Kaiba' through clenched teeth; even when he was pushing me to the very boundaries of my being in return… Yami had never expected me to be anything other than the person I was. He had never asked for something I couldn't or wouldn't be able to deliver.
I frowned. I was missing something… something important… something Yami had assumed I knew. And I was tired of always missing the point. It happened every time we dueled, and it was happening again, now. I looked at Yami. I was glad he was still asleep. I needed peace and time and the near-darkness or our room to puzzle it out.
Then I had it. There was a reason why, even in a prototype version of a video game, I couldn't leave Yami as anything so insipid as a fairy-tale prince. Yami wasn't stupid enough to offer some ridiculous refuge I wouldn't believe in or accept. What he had offered was so simple, I had mistaken it for subtlety. He had offered, just as he had stated, to fight life's battles by my side.
And I was so tired of facing each storm in solitude.
I could never quite identify what I felt I gained each time Yami touched me… kissed me… each time I was in his arms.
He was my rival. I had never really beaten him – a fact that all his caresses could not erase. And yet… I found my thoughts turning instead to the battles we had fought side by side, as if that was where our true natures lay.
The message of our tag team match in my virtual world was not lost on me. I could close my eyes and see the Dragon Knight Master we had created. A creature born of my fire and power… born of my Ultimate Dragon; joined with Yami's sure sense of balance and purpose… joined with his Black Luster Soldier. The fusion had been… perfect. As perfect as his arms; as perfect as his kiss.
I remembered our final battle against DOMA. I had offered my life to Yami, content that my debts would finally be paid in full. As usual, I had survived. Once again, Yami had seemed to offer me death, only to snatch it away… until I no longer desired it. Or was it that I had discovered something I wanted even more? I do not think I was made to die quietly in bed – or at a ripe old age. But although I remain ready to accept Death's embrace when it comes, I have found that I prefer to be held in Yami's arms.
For when he touches me, I feel like a teenager for the first time. Like a kid – greedily, crazily, in something that could only resemble love.
Thanks to Clarity for editing this chapter!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, given both how aggressive and how competitive Seto is, you didn't think he'd make it through the whole story without coming on to Yami, did you? I think Yami had never really thought about whether he was attracted to Seto… actually he was probably pretty careful not to think about it. But if he admires Kaiba's strength, I think it's Kaiba's vulnerability, the sense that Kaiba needs him, that really hooked him. And Seto has this quality even more strongly. So I think Yami would be startled to realize that he is attracted to Seto as well as Kaiba – and more, that Seto is part of what he finds attractive about Kaiba, and that if he wants to reach Kaiba, he has to do it by addressing the needs that the part of him who's never changed from Seto has. Confusing, huh?
I always feel a little nervous having Kaiba show any emotional growth or ability to trust, but I do think (with the possible exception of Yami) Kaiba is the character who shows the most change in the course of the series. And I think in this story, it was time for him to finally use his smart head for something useful, and realize that Yami wouldn't be doing all of this if he didn't both understand him (at least somewhat), accept him, and care a whole hell of a lot. But I also think he would find it easier (at least in the beginning) to accept the idea of Yami being a comrade in arms so to speak rather someone who loves him.
I just realized something about the story (great, I've been posting it for almost a year – and I just discovered this!) In the beginning Yami and Kaiba have several in depth conversations, it's part of how they get close enough to actually become lovers. Yet the minute they start screwing, they stop speaking about anything important, and are only now, hesitantly working their way back to talking to each other. Am I the only one who thinks that's funny?
RESPONSES TO REVIEWS:
Akunadin recap: (BH) Yeah, the story's gotten a little away from Akunadin and the Sennen items. But they're not forgotten. Actually Akunadin's back in the next chapter. Basically, his part of the story revolves around the Sennen Eye and Rod. 3,000 years ago, these items were split – with each copy having half of it's original power. Akunadin and his master, Zork, have one copy of each. Since these are Sennen Items, they can't just grab the other ones – they must be freely given them or win them in a duel from the legitimate holders – which in this case are potentially Seto and Kaiba. So basically Akunadin's in a holding pattern until the two versions of Seto Kaiba claim the items. Yami way back in Chapter 15, realize that this gives them the time they need to get their act together. This is made more complicated by the fact that Seto is tempted by Akunadin's offer, because he's resentful of Kaiba and Yami's relationship, and drawn to the idea that Akunadin might actually care about him. Kaiba, who's been spying on him, becomes aware of this, and let's Seto know. Whether Seto is in a mood to listen and how Akunadin feels, will have to wait until the next chapter.
Yami and Kaiba: (Daje Elle Namte, StainofCurare) It's easy to get the feeling that Kaiba is being slow or too stupidly stubborn to accept the friendship that's so obviously being offered. But doing so requires Kaiba to rearrange all his ideas of how the world operates and ignore all the evidence he's received to the contrary in the entire course of his life. It also requires him to question and re-evaluate the underlying assumptions that guide his behavior. This is an enourmous undertaking, and one thing I really admire about Mr. Takahashi's creation of this character is that he never glosses over just how difficult or how much of a struggle it is. I guess it's important to me to show that Yami both understands and appreciates that.
Kaiba: (Clarity) Interestingly, I think Yugi and company see Kaiba at his most childish – showing off or gloating or ranting when he's dueling. When you see him dealing with the Big Five or designing things, he's much more in control – at least in the anime and manga, if not the dub. I think that's actually a sign that admit it or not, he lets his guard down a little aroun them.
Jounouchi: (Daje Elle Namte, Demon, Wintersslayer) I find the continuing enmity between Kaiba and Jounouchi interesting. Jounouchi says he never forgives, but in the course of the story he forgives both Malik and Otogi quite easily. He reserves his hatred for Kaiba. And Kaiba usually doesn't notice people enough to dislike them. I think the two of them see a lot of their past in each other. Kaiba sees in Jounouchi everything he refused to be. I think that's why his favorite nickname for Jounouchi is mediocrity. And I think Jounochi sees the same in Kaiba – someone who's made a lot of terrible choices and been rewarded for them with material success and a close relationship with his brother.
I have to admit though, it was fun seeing Seto and Kaiba both arguing with Jounouchi. And I hadn't noticed until Demon pointed it out that by being nice (well by Kaiba standards) as a way of making things up to Yami, Kaiba was, for once being nicer to himself to, by choosing a less self-destructive method of atonement. (Whether that state of affairs will continue is another story…)
Baseball, errors, perfection and hanging out: (AmunRa, BH, Daje Elle Namte, Demon, Desidera, elirian 19, laura m, Maris, Moonrunner, Mother CHOWGoddess, Nachzes Black-Rider, StainofCurare, Sylvia Viridian, YGO Ecogoth, Yume no Zencho) I did want to take a step back (at least temporarily, and show the characters hanging out, and having some semblance of normalcy. I tired to duplicate the flow of watching a baseball game where people get up and down for food, and generally enjoy the sun and the atmosphere, and the scoreboard is an ongoing presence, and people really do get into all kind of arguments, that are sometimes only vaguely related to whatever's happening on the field (Can anyone say Barry Bonds… or the Designated Hitter?)
One thing that's always struck me is how revealing casual conversations about things people do for fun can be. (Like try asking someone who their favorite superhero is…)
Kaiba rarely seems to accept imperfection – in himself or in anyone else. I think that's because there's been very little margin for error in his life, and the consequences of his own mistakes have been so dire. But I felt he needed to be reminded, as Sugoroku did – that errors are part of the game. That exchange was probably my favorite – in fact the whole chapter was meant to lead up to that.
Mokuba and Anzu (together and separately): (Daje Elle Namte, Desidera, elirian 19, Kagemihari, MotherCHOWGoddess, StainofCurare) It's kind of fun contrasting Mokuba's and Seto's respective crushes. Anzu is the first person Mokuba confides in – and just as importantly, the first person who says that she believes him when he tries to explain that his brother is more complicated (and less evil) than appearances suggest. I think that would make a strong impression on him. So I can see him suddenly turning 13 and saying to himself: wow she's cool and she's got breasts! I can also see him viewing Yugi as the competition (after all, he is a Kaiba) even though at heart he knows he's too young for Anzu. Portraying Anzu is always a bit of a fine line – to make her nice without being sickeningly sweet. I have to add that this is a line that the dubbed version stomps all over.
Note on Anzu's bra size: (laura m) Yeah in the anime, a D cup looks about right. In the manga (particularly the earlier issues) she's considerably smaller. This actually becomes somewhat relevant at some point.
Yugi: (Desidera, Destiny, elirian 19, StainofCurare) Just as Yugi's feelings for Anzu would influence Yami, it occurred to me that the opposite might be true – that Yami's feelings might help Yugi to feel more sympathy for Kaiba. But I could also see, once the need for him to be supportive and sympathetic had passed, and once he realized how much Kaiba does actually care for Yami, he'd be a little freer to fell annoyed at Kaiba for hurting Yami.
Cursing Note: (Maris) In the manga and anime, Kaiba curses all the time. I don't think he can talk without starting every other sentence with the word, 'shit.' And while he's very protective of Mokuba's physical safety, I don't think it would occur to him to shield him from a commonplace reality like cursing (even if he sees anything wrong with his language, which I'm betting he doesn't.) But for all that he's protective of Mokuba, he also gives him a lot of responsibility and clearly treats him like a partner (okay, a junior partner.)
Note to Sylvia Viridian regarding the Yankees – can't you see Kaiba having a mild preference for the team everyone loves to hate? Not to mention the 26 World Championships…
Note to Destiny: Thanks. I hoped that Déjà Vu could stand on its own feet, so to speak, so thanks for writing. And I admit, I found the idea of writing a story featuring two Seto Kaibas (especially the 13 year old punk) pretty irresistible.
Note to Moonrunner: As you can probably tell, I love bad puns.
Note to Ceribi Motou: I't's pretty funny – but I couldn't quite figure out why I included Yugi's narrative with the baseball outing, but they seemed to fit. Then when I looked the quote you chose I realized – that narrative was about being part of a team as well!